


Study Date

by sorandom



Category: Ghostbusters (2016)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/F, Physics Class, Study Date, erin is a NERD, its low-key a mess, sporty holtz
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-04
Updated: 2018-11-29
Packaged: 2019-07-24 22:12:54
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,106
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16184222
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sorandom/pseuds/sorandom
Summary: Holtzmann meets a new girl in physics, and something about her captivates her.





	1. Part One

**Author's Note:**

> Hi guys, I'm BACK! I took a lil break from my other fic to write this short one. I hope you guys like it!! (the formatting is messed up, and I'm not sure how to fix it, so bear with me guys)

It was the first day of school and Holtzmann was already late to her second block class- physics. It wasn’t that she didn’t like physics, she did, it was that she’d had her favorite class first, engineering. She’d gotten so caught up in working out plans for their first project that she’d forgotten to leave when the bell rang.  
The hallway that probably five minutes before was bustling with kids was empty, reiterating to Holtzmann how late she truly was. This didn’t make her speed up or try to rush, she just kept strolling down the hallway at a leisurely pace. It was her senior year, she didn’t really even need to show up, she’d already gotten all of her science credits, she was just showing up for the hell of it, and the fact that she needed something to fill the void in her schedule.  
“And you must be Jillian. You’re late,” Ms. Brown said, looking up from her attendance sheet on the clipboard in front of her, “I’ll let it slide since it’s the first day of school but next time it’s detention.” Holtzmann rolled her eyes and looked around for an empty seat, finding one in the very back of the class. She dropped down her bag, and the girl next to her jumped a little.  
“Sorry, forgot to introduce myself,” Holtzmann said, sitting down and holding out her hand to the girl next to her, “Jillian Holtzmann, but you can call me Holtz, or Holtzmann, whichever your heart desires,” she smiled, and the girl started to respond but was quickly cut off by the teacher at the front of the class.  
“If you keep it up back there you’ll be introducing yourself to the vice principal, how does that sound?” The stare over the teacher’s glasses was enough to shut the both up, and Holtzmann mouthed a ‘sorry’ to the other girl.  
The rest of the class was relatively boring, though Holtzmann managed to get yelled at four times, twice for having her feet up on her desk. She even took notes, even though it was mostly just drawings and ideas for something she wanted to build in her garage later.  
When the bell rung the other girl wasted no time leaving the class, her skirt brushing Holtzmann as she rushed up from the desk. Holtzmann didn’t have time to ask for her name so she just grabbed her bag and headed out, the interactions with the mystery girl slipping from her mind quickly.

\---

It was cool out, even though it was only late August. Holtzmann was still sweating under her pads though, beads of sweat trickling down her forehead, it’d been a hard practice. One of her teammates next to her offered her water, and she thanked them profusely.  
“Holtzmann! Let’s go and run that drill again, we need to be ready for the home opener this weekend,” Her coach called from next to the bench, tossing her the football. She nodded and ran out to the field, lining up her players in front of her. Anything that could’ve been occupying her mind had suddenly vanished and she was only focused on one thing: football. She executed the play exactly how the playbook told her to, and she felt overwhelmed with relief. The feeling of doing a play exactly right was one of the most amazing ones she’d ever experienced. Even creating a new experiment in her garage didn’t match the excitement she got from throwing a perfect spiral up the field to one of her receivers.  
“Great job boys- and Holtzmann,” Her coach spit out his chewing tobacco, which made her cringe, “I’ll see you all back here tomorrow, stay hydrated and remember to watch film tonight!” She smiled and told her teammates how good of a practice they had, and then left for the girl’s locker room.  
As she undressed alone and changed back into her regular clothes the mystery girl popped into her head. She was pretty, but nothing particular stood out about her, and Holtzmann couldn’t wrap her head around why she was in her mind still. She decided that on Wednesday, the next time they had that class, she’d ask for the girl’s name. Holtzmann left the locker room satisfied with her decision to talk to the girl.  
\---  
Tuesday went by slower than any other day Holtzmann had ever encountered. Her classes seemed to drag longer and longer each second they went on. She became increasingly curious about the girl, even asking around to some of her friends to see if they knew her. The most she’d heard was that she transferred here and she was also a senior. She’d heard nothing else about her, but it didn’t stop her from trying to find her. Holtzmann even created a snapchat, she didn’t have any other social media, in hopes to find her. Her search was ultimately unsuccessful.  
She only felt slightly discouraged by this, and didn’t give up hope. Holtzmann didn’t know what made her drawn to this girl, but she was determined to figure it out.  
After school she didn’t have much time to ponder the thought of the girl, as she had football practice. It was cold again, but not as bad as the past two days. This time Holtzmann was able to focus on the game and the different plays; it was the only thing that could get the girl off her mind. 

\---

When Wednesday finally rolled around it seemed like years had passed since she had last seen the girl. Holtzmann had physics first that day, and she made a point of it to get there on time. She had even left home on her motorcycle fifteen minutes earlier than she normally would, hoping she’d get there on time.  
Other than the bitchy teacher, there was no one there when she went to class. She picked out a seat in the back, the same one she’d been sitting in two days prior. This time Holtzmann was careful not to put her feet up on the desk, no matter how tempting it was, because she couldn’t risk getting moved to the front, or worse, getting sent to the vice principal’s office.  
Kids started walking in a few minutes later, and Holtzmann got antsier with each passing second. Finally she saw the girl walk in, and Holtzmann straightened up in her seat. She was wearing another skirt, this one black and shorter than the last, with a white shirt tucked into it. Her bangs fell over her forehead, and she tucked a piece of hair behind her ear as she sat down.  
'Now I know why she’s been stuck in my head', Holtzmann thought to herself, adjusting her shirt to occupy herself.  
“I’m Erin, by the way,” Holtzmann looked up to find the girl, who just identified herself at Erin, looking at her, “Jillian, right? Oh, wait, you said to call you Holtzmann, I forgot I-” she stuttered and stumbled over her words, trying to correct her innocent mistake.  
“You can call me Jillian, but only if you give me the homework answers from last night,” Holtzmann grinned, hoping Erin would agree to it, as Holtzmann needed the homework because she was too busy working in her garage all night.  
“Alright, Jillian,” The name rolled off her tongue so effortlessly, and Holtzmann stared at her, awestruck by how attracted she was to the way she said her name. Erin pulled the paper from her binder and handed it to a still-staring Holtzmann, “Here, just change them up a little so we don’t get caught, alright?” Holtzmann nodded quickly, taking the paper from her.  
She finished copying it fairly quickly, it was only one sheet of notes, and when the teacher came around to collect it she looked pleasantly surprised.  
“You came in on time and you did your homework? I’m impressed,” Ms. Brown looked through her glasses at her, even smiling a bit. After she checked Erin’s paper and had moved onto the next group, Erin turned to Holtzmann and started giggling.  
“I can’t believe she didn’t realize our papers are almost exactly the same,” Erin said after she stopped laughing. Holtzmann just smiled and shrugged in response, not wanting to draw attention to themselves from the teacher, who had just started her lesson. She rambled on a bit, about different things they were going to cover for the day, and Holtzmann already started zoning out. She thought about football practice later, and taking a nice long ride on her bike after to her favorite spot to see the sunset. 

\---

She didn’t know how long she’d been asleep, but the next thing she knew she was being nudged awake by Erin’s foot under the table.  
“Hey, you fell asleep, and there’s only ten minutes left so I thought you might want to at least take SOME notes, you know what I mean?” Erin looked at her awkwardly, and Holtzmann rubbed the sleep from her eyes. It was a miracle the teacher didn’t see her sleeping for that long, she would’ve been sent to the vice principal’s office faster than she’d ever been.  
“Thanks, I should try and pay attention at least once this year,” Holtzmann took out a sheet of lined paper and began copying off the work Ms. Brown had put on the board. The teacher had stopped babbling about whatever useless science vocabulary she’d been droning on about since Holtzmann woke up and let the class finish up the note-taking, or in Holtzmann’s case, start the notes.  
“And before the bell rings, let me remind you that there is a test next class on Friday about what you’ve learned so far. Please study and come prepared, as this is you first big grade of the year,” Ms. Brown had begun to erase the dry erase board, and Holtzmann tried frantically to copy down what was left. Holtz looked down at her paper, slightly defeated. She needed to get a good grade on this, or she couldn’t play football; it was mandatory all players keep above a C average throughout the year. Then she got an idea.  
“Hey, Erin, can I ask you something?” Holtzmann got up from her desk, and started walking after the already leaving Erin.  
“Yeah, sure, anything you need,” Erin stopped and adjusted her skirt.  
“Can you help me study for this test coming up, it’s really important, I can probably repay you somehow,” Holtzmann pleaded, looking desperately at Erin.  
Erin glanced up at Holtzmann and back down at the floor, “Okay, Do you have a study or anything today, or do you want to stay after and go to the library?”  
“I have practice right after school today until four, so I can pick you up after that and we can go to your house or something,” Holtzmann fiddled with her leather jacket, and ran a hand through her messy bed head.  
“Yeah sure, I’m staying after anyways so you can drive me home I guess,” Erin smiled and turned to leave, “See you then!”  
Holtzmann breathed a sigh of relief, mostly because she was going to get help in physics, which meant she’d get a good grade on the test. She was also happy because of the fact that she would get to spend time with this Erin, alone. 

\---

The rest of the day dragged on ridiculously slow. Holtzmann had study and then statistics, one of the more boring classes in her schedule. She listened to every tick of the clock, too bored to listen to the teacher drone on and on about numbers and equations she’d never use in real life. When the bell finally rang she bolted up, grabbed her textbook and practically ran to her last block class- engineering.  
Holtzmann sauntered into the class, setting down her belongings and grabbing her project off the shelf. She was building a bridge out of sheets of paper, and she was determined to make it hold a sizeable amount of weight. She immediately became engulfed in her work, the thoughts of the day, and her study date later, slipped away. 

\---

Practice that day was exceptionally cold. It was the first day of September, but it was still chilly under Holtzmann’s shoulder pads. She even shivered a few times between plays, mostly because of the wind that was blowing quite strongly across the open field behind the high school. She couldn’t wait until practice ended, as she had her study date with Erin after.  
Her plays that day were messy, she couldn’t focus one hundred percent. She’d never been this distracted from her practices. Even when she was a young freshman who would get distracted by the cheerleaders on the sidelines during games, she’d never been this unfocused. Holtzmann’s mind swarmed with thoughts of Erin, with her short skirts and vintage style outfits. Her coach had to pull her off to the side of the field a few times, asking if she was okay because of how much she was underperforming.  
“Are you having some boy problems- is it ~that time of the month~? Why aren’t you focused?” Her coach only hinted at the annoyance in his voice.  
“No, sir, I’ll get it together,” She nodded quickly, turning to head back to her waiting teammates. Immediately, she pulled it together, pushing any and all thoughts out of her mind to focus on the game. The last hour of practice was the hardest for Holtzmann, she was doing her best to pay attention to football, and not the girl waiting in library for her to pick her up.  
When practice had finally let out Holtzmann practically sprinted to the locker rooms, throwing off her gear as she got inside. She grabbed her duffel bag and headed to the showers, needing to freshen up before her study session with Erin. This was their first time hanging out, and she wanted to make a good first impression to the new girl.

\---

As she walked into the library, hair still dripping wet, she looked around for the familiar face from physics. Holtzmann strolled past the shelves of untouched books to the back of the large room, where she found Erin sitting on the floor, concentrated on a book the was resting in her lap.  
“Come here often?” Holtzmann joked, kneeling down next to her to see the cover of the book she was reading.  
“Yes, in fact, I do, enough to know it’s closing in ten minutes so we better get going,” Erin looked up and Holtzmann and smiled. She closed the thick book and put it in her backpack, as Holtzmann was still squinting at the cover trying to figure out the title, “It’s old you probably haven’t heard of the book,” Erin got up and smoothed her skirt.  
“I’m kind of a nerd you know, just not in the English Language department,” Holtzmann looked at her, and rolled her eyes jokingly. “Let’s go?” She motioned toward the door and began walking. Erin followed close behind, backpack slung over her shoulders. 

\---

When they got to the parking lot it was mostly empty, typical for this time in the afternoon.  
“Hope you brought a sweatshirt, it gets cold on my bike,” Holtzmann stopped at her motorcycle, and handed Erin a helmet.  
“Your what? Motorcycle?” Erin looked a little confused and took the helmet.  
“Yes, you heard me correctly, now we should probably get going before it gets too late and then it’s cold.” Holtzmann shoved her backpack into the side pocket hanging off her bike and swung her leg overtop it, adjusting herself comfortably.  
Erin looked down at her skirt and back at the bike. After a moment she decided to just put on her helmet and go for it.  
“Now, you’re going to have to give me directions to your house so I know where to go.” Holtzmann looked at Erin, who nodded and proceeded to get on the bike. She tucked her skirt under her leg as best she could so it wouldn’t fly up as they started driving. “Alright, and then you can just put your around my stomach so you don’t go rolling off as we start going.” Holtzmann felt Erin put her arms around her as she started her motorcycle and headed out of the parking lot.  
“Take a left!” Erin shouted over the sound of the wind rushing by her ears.  
Holtzmann complied, the bike leaning closer to the street as they turned. The ride so far hadn’t been that bad, it was chilly but not too frigid yet. Erin moved her arms tighter around Holtzmann’s waist on each turn, and Holtzmann by no means was complaining. 

\---

The sun was low in the sky, almost setting, as they pulled into Erin’s driveway.  
“This it?” Holtzmann turned off her bike and propped it on the kickstand.  
“Yeah,” Erin took her helmet off her head and brushed her bangs out of her eyes, “Sorry if it’s messy, we’re in the process of moving in and there’s boxes everywhere an-”  
“It’s fine, I get it,” Holtzmann cut her off and reassured her. “Let’s go in?” She grabbed her book bag from the pouches on her bike and headed toward the door.  
“Hey mom, hey dad!” Erin said as she walked in the door, locking it behind Holtzmann when the got inside.  
“Hey Erin, is your friend you’re studying with here?” An older man with a mustache called from a reclining chair in what she assumed to be the living room.  
“Yeah, she is, she’s right here,” Erin nudged Holtzmann, signalling to her to go say hello to her father. Holtzmann walked around to the front of the man’s chair, and into his view.  
“Hello, Mr. Gilbert, I’m Jillian, but most refer to me as Holtzmann,” She stuck out her hand for him to take, and he shook it firmly.  
“Firm hand shake, I like you already,” Mr. Gilbert chuckled lightly and went back to watching the news.  
“Well, we’re going to be upstairs studying for physics, let me know if you guys need anything,” Erin turned and waved to her mom and proceeded up the carpeted steps, Holtzmann following close behind.

\---

“This is my room, it’s not fully unpacked yet, but I did my best at cleaning it up, sorry in advance,” Erin had began to go on and on about the messiness of her room, but Holtzmann was only half paying attention. Instead she was looking around, at the poster of the periodic table hanging up on the wall to models from old science projects flooding her shelves. Erin noticed her looked curiously around. “I’m a nerd, sorry,” Erin forced out a laughed and looked up at Holtzmann, who was examining her solar system model that she had hanging from her ceiling.  
“It’s cute, there’s not a lot of girls like you, ya know?” Holtzmann tapped each of the planets, making them spin and shake on their strings.  
Erin blushed and looked up at her, “I’m still waiting for you to make some kind of joke about it, but I guess you’re being serious so I’ll take your compliment and shut up.”  
“I’m kinda a secret nerd too, I like to build stuff,” Holtzmann plopped down on Erin’s carpeted floor and took her binder out of her backpack, “Now let’s get to work?”  
Erin nodded and pulled out her notes, “So, uh, building stuff? Like what?” She asked inquisitively, thumbing through the pages of her massive textbook, trying to find the chapter they were working on.  
“Machines, tools, anything basically,” Holtzmann answered absent-mindedly, shuffling through her papers, trying to find the notes she copied from Erin earlier in the day, “Found them, did you find the section you were working on or are you too busy staring at me?” Holtzmann winked at Erin.  
She bit her lip and stifled a smile, “Um, yeah, uh, I found it, yeah, ha ha.” Holtzmann watched Erin stumble and snap back to reality; she knew she was staring. 

\---

After a half hour into their study session, Holtzmann suggested they take a break for a little bto stand up and stretch, maybe talk a little about something other than science. “So what are all the models and posters in your room from?” She asked, genuinely interested.  
“At my old school, before I transfered, we had this huge science fair every year, and it was a really big deal. The last one I did was with my friend Abby, it had a little dance and everything,” Erin smiled a little, reminiscing on her past, but quickly frowned, remembering what else happened at her old school.  
“Why’d you transfer?” Holtzmann had sat back down on the floor, and was now lying on her stomach, her arm propping up her head.  
“Just some high school drama, you know? It wasn’t anything special, I’m just dramatic,” Erin answered nervously. Holtzmann could tell she didn’t want to let any more out so she decided not to press it any further.  
“You don’t have to tell me, but if you want I promise I won’t make fun of you,” Holtzmann smiled, trying to comfort an obviously distraught Erin.  
Erin thought for a second, then looked back at Holtzmann. “Tell me something about yourself, and I will.” Even Holtzmann was confused by this, neither of them predicted that Erin would actually tell her. Erin was a private person, she didn’t like to share her personal life that often. But there was something about Holtzmann that made Erin feel strangely safe and comfortable, like she’d known her forever instead of just a few days.  
“Okay, um,” Holtzmann had to think, she was mostly an open book but she’d never met Erin before and didn’t want to scare her away with something strange, so she decided to go for the obvious answer, “I’m gay. Your turn.”  
Instead of answering right away and brushing it off like Holtzmann thought she’d do, Erin just stared at her. “Really? I kind of assumed but I didn’t want to say anything, in case you weren’t actually.” Erin stopped herself from aimlessly babbling about the topic and shut herself up.  
“So what’s your secret, nerd?” Holtzmann raised an eyebrow at Erin, who shifted her skirt awkwardly.  
“I won’t explain the full story because we have to get back to studying but back at my old school, something about me got around and people bullied and constantly harassed me, and my parents and the school didn’t do anything, so I took matters into my own hands and transferred schools,” Erin spoke slowly, cautiously, like if she spoke too loud she’d be shut down or confronted.  
Holtzmann’s expression saddened, realizing the severity of what had happened, “I have some questions, if that’s okay,” She looked to Erin for her approval, who shook her head yes in response. “What happened?”  
Erin gulped, and suddenly the air felt a lot thicker. “I saw a ghost.” Holtzmann almost didn’t hear her because she was whispering so quietly. The tension hung in the air as Holtzmann struggled to find the right words to say. “It’s okay if you don’t believe me or anything, no one does, except for my friend Abby, but we had a fight before I left so we don’t talk anymore,” Erin picked at the carpet and avoided looking at Holtzmann.  
“No, I one hundred percent believe you, it’s just that I’ve never met someone with a paranormal experience before, I think it’s fascinating. One day I want to create devices to capture and store them, even study them. It’s always been an interest of mine,” Holtzmann was focused on Erin in complete wonder and shock, captivated by what she’d just told her.  
“Yeah it’s whatever, I used to want to study them too, but then I realized ghosts aren’t real and it’s all in my head,” She looked off into the distance, sadness washing over herself once again. She cleared her throat and forced a smile, “So tell me more about yourself, since I just told you my deepest, darkest secret and we’ve known each other for less than a week.”  
“Okay well, let’s see, I already told you the lesbian thing, so what else is there,” Holtzmann racked her head for anything she could tell her to hopefully strike up a good conversation, “I play football, I have a workshop in my garage that I build stuff in during my free time, and other than that I’m mostly just a boring person.”  
“You play football? Really?” Erin perked up a little, suddenly gaining interest in this strange girl sitting in front of her.  
“Yeah, my older brother played, and he got me into it when we were younger, and I’ve been playing ever since. It’s the only thing that makes me feel normal anymore,” Holtzmann sighed and began fidgeting with her papers.  
“You have an older brother? Any other siblings?” Erin was extremely interested in her life, as she’d been an only child and never had to deal with siblings.  
“My older brother passed away a few years ago, but I have a younger sister, and she’s my whole world,” Holtzmann smiled a little, trying not to bring down the mood of the conversation anymore.  
“Oh, I’m so sorry for your loss, I don’t want to make you upset or anything, we don’t have to talk about depressing stuff anymore,” Erin shifted her weight uncomfortably, trying to think of some way to change the subject. “So what do you do for fun?”  
“Thank you for changing the subject, by the way. And, I like to party, generic high school stuff,” She shrugged, realizing she didn’t do anything that noteworthy in her spare time.  
“So like, drinking and drugs and crazy stuff like that?” Erin’s attention was completely held by her right now, her life far more interesting than Erin’s.  
“Drinking? Yeah. Drugs? You’ll have to find out yourself,” Holtzmann winked at Erin, and considerably lightened the deepened mood in the room.  
“I’ve never been to any parties besides the ones with bouncy castles I used to get invited to when I was really little,” Erin joked, smiling back at Holtzmann.  
“Okay ghost girl, how about this. There’s a big party at my teammate’s place after my game on Friday. Come to my game and I’ll drive you there after, and if you want to leave you can, but I want you to experience your first high school party, okay?” Holtzmann looked eagerly at Erin, hoping she’d say yes.  
“Yeah, okay, I’ll have to ask my parents and everything but they’ll be happy I’m making friends,” Erin grinned and brushed her hair out of her face.  
“Shit, I gotta run, my mom just texted me and I completely forgot we were having dinner together tonight, I’m sorry,” Holtzmann got up and grabbed her bag. “I’ll see you in physics, though, I can probably study later by myself for that test, thank you though, for helping me a ton tonight.” The words fell out of her mouth awkwardly and all at once, as if all of her sentences we mushed together in one.  
“Yeah, that’s fine I can give you my number so you can text me if you need anything, okay?” Erin ripped a sheet of paper from her binder and scrawled down her number, shoving in Holtzmann’s front jacket pocket. “I’ll walk you to your bike.”

\---

It was significantly colder outside than it was earlier, and Erin could see their breath. “See you Friday!” She waved at Holtzmann, who was starting up her bike.  
Holtzmann saluted and put on her helmet, staring at Erin, who was shivering in the cold. As she backed out of the driveway, and got onto the street, Friday was the only thing on her mind.


	2. Chapter 2

That night Holtzmann barely slept. She tossed and turned, trying to free her mind of the thoughts keeping her up. Eventually she decided to go down to her workshop and tinker a bit to get her nerves out. It was only early Thursday morning but Holtzmann was anxiously awaiting Friday night.  
  
Down in her garage she was tinkering away at the small machines and motors that were scattered over the large work table. She flicked the small lamp on and set to work. She quickly pushed aside her bridge project that she’d brought home to work on and pulled out an old sketch pad she had stacked away in the corner. Hastily she flipped through the torn pages until she found the one she was looking for. It was one of the more worn pages in the book, the drawings having been erased and redrawn multiple times, never quite perfected. She hadn’t taken the book out in a while, and the pages stuck together a bit. Her left forearm creased the page down and then she set to work.  
  
The sound of pieces of metal being welded together at 2 in the morning was quite soothing to Holtzmann, who was working tirelessly at her work bench. Eventually she took a step back to check her progress. She took off her welding mask and wiped the sweat from her forehead. Her progress was slow but she was determined to make something out of the scraps of materials in front of her. The thing Erin told her earlier, about the ghost, was stuck in her mind, and she was focused on bringing to life an idea she had so long ago.  
  
Before she could get much further a wave of sleepiness rushed over her like a wave and she put down her tools, setting them gently next to her creation. She slid off the battered wooden stool and shut the notebook, placing it back in the stack beside her.  
  
Dragging along up the steps she decided to text Erin, even though she knew she wouldn’t be up yet.  
  
_Hey, it’s Holtzmann, just checking to make sure I have the right number._  
  
She shut her phone off and crawled under the covers, turning off the light next to her.  
  
\---  
  
Her six am alarm never felt more annoying. The sound of it blaring in her ear on her bedside table was a bad reminder of the lack of sleep she had. When she unlocked her phone to turn it off she noticed a text notification from Erin on her phone. Without turning off the still-going alarm she opened to text, anxious to see what she’d replied with.  
  
_Haha, this is the right number! Can I ask you for a favor by any chance? ___  
  
Holtzmann’s heart skipped a beat and her breath got caught in her chest. The sound of the alarm still beeping continuously grounded her and brought her back to reality. She turned it off and began to figure out a good response.  
  
_Ask away ;) ___  
  
She immediately felt like the wink emoji was too much but left it anyway, knowing that if she wanted to make this go any further she had to make it happen. As she was anticipating Erin texting back she realized she was going to be late for school if she waited any longer. She took off her pajamas, which were just boxers and a t-shirt, and threw on the first things she had in her closet, which were overalls and a green crop top. Holtzmann stopped to judge her choice of outfit in the mirror, and decided to add a pair of combat boots to her look. She wanted to stand out today, for Erin to see her. She grabbed her backpack and headed out the door without checking her phone again, becoming increasingly nervous about what Erin was going to reply.  
  
She went all the way to homeroom without checking her phone, but figured that she needed to read it at some point. Ducking her phone under the desk so her teacher wouldn’t see, she checked her messages.  
  
_My parents are out of town this weekend, give me a ride to your game and the after party?? ___  
  
Holtzmann felt her heart leap from her chest reading the ‘my parents are out of town this weekend’ portion of the message, but quickly came back down to earth. She was still excited though, she wanted to spend more time with her.  
  
_Of course! I’ll pick you up after school. ___  
  
She smiled to herself and shoved her phone back in her pocket as her homeroom teacher walked around to take attendance.  
  
“Jillian if you didn’t have such a big game tomorrow I’d be taking that phone away and giving you a detention in a heartbeat, you’re lucky,” He glared through his soulless eyes at her, and gave her his final warning. Holtzmann was forever grateful that he, and most of the other teachers, were such a big football fans.  
  
“Yes sir. Hope to see you there, by the way!” She exaggerated her smile and gave a thumbs up. The teacher sighed and walked down the next aisle of desks. The bell rang before she had to suffer through any more of homeroom, and Holtzmann darted out into the hallway for her most boring day of classes.  
  
\---  
  
Holtzmann perked up in the hallway between second and third period, when she saw Erin at the set of lockers next to hers. She threw her belongings in her locker and grabbed her headphones, she had a study period next block, and headed over to talk to Erin. As she got closer she realized Erin was talking to two of her teammates. Holtzmann smiled, figuring Erin had introduced herself to her friends and told them she was going to the party. But when she got close enough to overhear their conversation she quickly realized that wasn’t what was happening.  
  
“You look like a loser! Why are you always so quiet and wearing those ugly-ass skirts? Huh?” The bigger one pushed Erin a little, trying to start stuff. Holtzmann’s eyebrows furrowed and she quickened her pace, trying to intervene.  
  
“Hey! Back the fuck off, dumbass!” Holtzmann inserted herself between the three of them, which probably wasn’t the smartest idea, since she knew each of the boys could easily bench twice her weight.  
  
“What’s the problem, Holtz, we’re just having fun with the newbie,” His voice changed from when he was yelling at Erin, he sounded more defensive now.  
  
“Just watch it alright, you don’t wanna break that brain of hers, she’s tutoring me,” Holtzmann tried to sound as calm and collected as possible but she was struggling because of how annoyed she was with her teammates.  
  
Finally the smaller of the two boys piped up, “Holtz, we all know that you’re some kind of freak scientist and that you don’t need tutoring, just admit that you’re banging her.” The two boys snickered, and the taller one made a ‘V’ with his fingers and flicked his tongue through it, earning a groan from Holtzmann. She looked back to find the other girl’s flushed red, obviously blushing. Before she could go off on the boys any further a teacher stepped into the hallway and told them to move along to class before they all got detentions.  
  
“I better not see either of you messing with her again, or I’ll make sure coach makes you two ride the bench tomorrow night,” Holtzmann shot back at them, pulling Erin by the arm away from the situation, “I’m sorry about that, some of them can be such dicks.”  
  
“It’s not the worst that’s happened to me, I think I’ll survive,” Erin shifted her books awkwardly in her arms, “Thank you for stepping in like that. No one’s ever done that before,” Erin felt herself blushing even more and she tried to conceal a smile, she felt childish acting like this.  
  
“You’re very welcome,” Holtzmann turned and smiled, stopping outside of her next class.  
  
“Wait, before you go, is there any way I could repay you?” Erin looked at her and Holtzmann giggled a little, “I’m serious, this is a big deal to me.”  
  
“I’m sure I’ll figure something out,” She smirked at Erin as she walked into her study hall, letting the door close behind her.  
  
\---  
  
Since it was raining in the afternoon practice was held in the weight room, where they had a quick lift session before watching film together. After checking the whiteboard for the daily workout she headed over the the racks, figuring she’d squat first, since all the benches were taken. As she was sliding the weights onto the bar she felt a presence behind her.  
  
“Thought maybe you could use someone to spot you, or maybe not since you’re so tough now,” Holtzmann recognized the voice as that of the larger boy from earlier.  
  
“Fuck off Jack,” She gave him a side eye and quickly turned her back to him.  
  
“Why don’t you tell us about your little girlfriend there, since we’re teammates and all,” Jack snickered and got in front of Holtzmann, who was beginning to do her sets of squats.  
  
“She’s not my girlfriend,” Holtzmann finished her first set and placed the bar back on the rack, and went to change the weight on the side.  
  
“She looks like a freak, I don’t know why you would even talk to her, but you do you I guess,” Jack shrugged and started walking away. Holtzmann was tempted to tell him that she’d be at the party but ultimately refrained from it. She decided to get back to work and ignore Jack for the rest of practice.  
  
\---  
  
Luckily Holtzmann had been smart enough to cover her bike in the morning when she got to school so when she left practice her seat wasn’t soaked. The rain slowed to a steady drizzle as she pulled off the plastic covering and stuffed it into the satchel on the side of her motorcycle. The ride home wasn’t as bad as she’d expected, and when she got there she had to recover her bike again, as the rain was picking up again.  
  
“Hey Lily,” Holtzmann said, opening up the cabinets looking for a snack.  
  
“Hi Jill,” The younger girl sat up from her position on the floor, pushing aside the work book she was writing in.  
  
Holtzmann took out two oranges from the shelves, one for her and one for her sister, “Here, you can have this, it’s good for you.”  
  
“Fruit is nasty!” Lily rolled her eyes at Holtzmann, and pushed past her to the fridge to grab the chocolate sauce and milk carton.  
  
Holtzmann, feeling defeated, put away the extra orange. “Where’s mom? Are you home alone?”  
  
“She said she had an emergency meeting with one of her clients and would be at the office until late,” Lily said the last part sadder, more emptier than the rest.  
  
“Hey, kiddo don’t get all sad on me now! I know mom’s been super busy at the office and we haven’t seen her much this week but we can still have a fun day. How about we put on a movie and I can make you dinner,” Holtz smiled weakly, trying to make the best of the situation. Lily perked up again, running to the rack of movies to find the perfect one to watch. Holtzmann stood in the kitchen finishing her orange, trying to figure out something to cook for Lily. This was a struggle because like most other ten year olds Lily was extremely picky about what she ate, and it didn’t help that Holtzmann’s cooking skills were extremely limited. Eventually she decided to just go simple, and make pasta.  
  
\---  
  
About an hour into the movie Lily had fallen asleep, and Holtzmann decided to bring her upstairs so she could go to bed. She shut off the TV and turned off all the lights. It was only eight but her mom still was not home yet.  
  
After she put Lily to bed and got back to her room she texted Erin.  
  
_Hey what’s up ___  
  
Before getting into bed she turned on her speaker and played music from her old iPod, hoping to fall asleep early tonight.  
  
_Hey Holtzmann, thanks for earlier :) ___  
  
Holtzmann smiled looking at her phone, and propped herself up on her elbows, knowing she wasn’t going to fall asleep soon if Erin was texting her. As she was thinking of a response she decided to just video chat Erin, and sat waiting to see if she would pick up.  
  
“Hey, Holtz, what’s up?”  
  
Holtzmann was taken by surprise that she actually answered, and got excited.  
  
“Oh, hey Erin! I was just bored and wondering what you were doing, I’m just a little nervous for the physics test tomorrow and all,” Holtzmann began to feel like Erin with the way she was rambling and stumbling over her words, “Can you go over a few things with me to make sure I’m ready?”  
  
Erin replied rather quickly, much to Holtzmann’s surprise. “Of course! That’s why they call me Erin, with an E.. for every… thing you want!” Erin laughed nervously, and Holtzmann watched her awkwardly fix her bangs and try to play off the uncomfortable dialogue between them.  
  
“Alright, well Erin, I want to go over the vocabulary list she gave us the other day,” Holtzmann pulled a sheet of paper from under her bed and began throwing out names of different scientists, equations, and theories to Erin, who was patiently listening and fixing Holtzmann’s mistakes in her definitions.  
  
After Holtzmann went through the whole list of words, numbers and other things she half-read, she sighed and set it down beside her, sinking lower in her bed.  
  
“So, you ready for the test tomorrow?” Erin asked, trying to keep the conversation going, not wanting to hang up.  
  
“I think so, but all this studying is getting me really sick of physics!” Holtzmann joked, sitting up from her bed to switch the song that was playing, which she had completely droned out while talking to Erin.  
“I’ll never get sick of physics, I love it,” Erin replied bubbly. Holtzmann had noticed this about Erin, that she got more excited when she talked about something she had a passion for.  
  
“Wow ghost girl, you just keep surprising me!” Holtzmann smiled at Erin through the phone, and was going to make another flirty comment, but was interrupted by the sound of a car door slamming. “Shit, my mom’s home,” Holtzmann said through her teeth, slightly annoyed that her conversation with Erin had been disrupted.  
  
“Oh, should I go? I can go, if you need,” Erin sounded disappointed too, and Holtzmann could tell.  
  
“No, no, don’t go, I’ll be back in a sec, okay? I need to go talk to my mom real quick,” Holtzmann hopped off the bed onto the floor, and threw her phone onto the blankets behind her.  
  
As she was running down the stairs to greet her mom, she looked at the photos of her brother and family on the wall, and stopped to look at them. There was one she was particularly interested in today; the one of her brother in his varsity football uniform, kneeling on the ground, while a young Holtzmann was standing beside him holding a football, smiling ear-to-ear. She smiled looking at it, thinking about how her brother had never been able to finish his college football career because of the accident. Holtzmann always knew, after that day, that she’d do it for him, that she’d get scouted by colleges and complete his legacy. She continued down the stairs, smiling sadly to herself, hoping to get a good start to her season tomorrow.  
  
Her mom was already sitting on the couch, sipping a glass of wine by the time Holtzmann got down there.  
  
“Hi Jillian, how was school?” Holtzmann’s mom looked up at her and moved her feet so she could sit down on the other end of the couch.  
  
“It was good. I can’t talk for long though, I’m studying with someone on video chat right now, and I just needed to ask you some things,” Holtzmann fidgeted with the buttons on her overalls nervously, hoping her mom was in a good mood.  
  
“Yeah, of course honey,” Her mother took another sip from her glass of wine, “Oh, are you studying with that girl you hung out with yesterday?”  
  
“Yeah, I’m talking to that girl right now, but what I wanted to ask was if after the football game I could go out with some of my friends for a little bit,” Holtzmann waited quietly for her response, hoping she didn’t press for more. Her mom knew she wasn’t all good and perfect, but after she’d gotten in trouble over the summer for getting caught by the cops smoking, her mom wasn’t too lenient when it came to letting Holtzmann ‘go out with friends’.  
  
“Jillian, I know you’re going to a party, don’t try to lie to me. I just want to know where it is and who’s going and I’ll think about it,” Her mom sighed and set down the glass of wine, and picked up a book.  
“It’s at Jack’s, and all the guys from the team are going,” Holtzmann looked at her mom to gauge her reaction, then added, “The girl that’s helping me study, Erin, she’s going too.”  
Holtzmann’s mom nodded and looked back up at her daughter. “Alright. But NO drinking and driving, call me if you need a ride, and you have to come home afterwards, no staying over anywhere, I want to make sure you’re safe.”  
  
“Thanks mom,” Holtzmann turned around and bounded back up the steps to her room, hoping Erin was still on the call.  
  
“Hey Erin, sorry I took so long-” Holtzmann picked up her phone and heard a quiet snore on the other side. Realizing Erin had fallen asleep she shut up, and put her phone on her nightstand, hoping that she wouldn’t wake up when she hung up. Holtzmann got up and walked to the other side of the room to where her speaker was, and switched the playlist on her iPod to one with soft music she could fall asleep to. Even after she had crawled into her bed and turned off the light, about to fall asleep, tomorrow was the only thing on her mind.  
  
\---  
  
Walking into school the next morning, Holtzmann tried to find Erin. They didn’t have physics until fourth period today, but she still wanted to talk to her.  
  
After walking up and down the senior hallway a couple times, she realized Erin must’ve already gone to homeroom, so she did the same.  
  
“Big game tonight, huh? How do you think you guys are going to do?” Her homeroom teacher asked, without looking up from the laptop screen in front of him.  
  
“Good, I’m feeling really confident about it, hopefully we can come out with a win,” Holtzmann didn’t even bother sitting down at a desk, she knew the bell was going to ring any minute now.  
Holtzmann wondered what homeroom Erin was in, she never had bothered to ask.  
  
\---  
  
By the time physics rolled around Holtzmann was getting nervous, mostly because she was hanging out with Erin later, not because of the test.  
  
Erin was already sitting down in her desk in the back when Holtzmann walked in. She sat down next to her and dropped her bag on the floor.  
  
“Ready for the test?” Holtzmann asked quietly, so the teacher didn’t yell at them, even though it was the beginning of class.  
  
“Never been more prepared!” Erin laughed nervously, fiddling with the sleeves on her shirt, “Sorry for falling asleep on video chat last night, I was super tired.”  
  
“It’s alright, I went to bed right after. Have to be rested for the big game tonight.” Holtzmann smiled at Erin, even though she could feel the glare from their teacher, who was now passing out papers for the test.  
  
“Please separate your desks ladies. And I better not hear any words from either of you, or it’s an automatic zero and detention,” Ms. Brown said and she walked past their desks, dropping two packets onto it. Holtzmann looked over at Erin, who was looking a little annoyed, and stifled a laugh.  
  
\---  
  
The bell rung and Holtzmann walked over to Erin, as she was taking her to her house to hang out before the game.  
  
“Let’s go!” Erin smiled at Holtzmann and headed for the door. Holtzmann grinned back as they headed for her motorcycle in the parking lot.  
  
\---  
  
Erin’s arms clutched around Holtzmann’s waist as they drove back to her house. Holtzmann noticed it was a lot tighter than last time, and Erin was almost leaning on her. She smiled to herself and kept driving, excited for the night ahead.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! So I decided to split the last chapter into two parts because it was becoming pretty lengthy, so the final chapter will be a little shorter. Let me know what you guys think of this chapter in the comments, and please leave a kudos! I love seeing all the email notifications in the morning when I get up, it brightens my day!

**Author's Note:**

> Part two will be uploaded hopefully within the next week, and I'm also trying to get out the next chapter of "You Need To Let Loose" soon. Please leave a comment or kudos, I enjoy every one


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